A number of folding chair designs have heretofore been developed. One such design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,991,123 (Hamilton), where the curved back rest is fixed relative to the front chair legs. This arrangement has the disadvantage of not being able to be folded to a compact state with all of the chair elements in a substantially parallel relationship. This in turn complicates storage and handling of such chairs.
Another known design embodying a pivotal back rest is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,587,604 (Scott). While this design can be folded into a more compact state with all elements substantially parallel, it has the disadvantage of having the back rest remain in a freely pivotal state when the chair is either in the open or folded positions. This makes it awkward and sometimes difficult to handle the chair in its open position, and also makes it impossible to lean the folded chair on its back rest against a wall or another chair.